Abstract
Since 1990, a series of studies on rats, monkeys and human foetus showed that an arc-shaped zone is present in the middle-caudal segment of medulla oblongata, running from the dorsomedial part to the ventrolateral part and passing through the reticular formation. It was named the medullary visceral zone (MVZ). The MVZ has been investigated with various techniques (Golgi method, Nissl method, immunohistochemical method,in situ hybridization method, triple labelling method, neurophysiological method, etc.), and the morphological features as well as the physiological functions of MVZ have been preliminarily understood. It is proved that the medullary life center is located in MVZ. An introduction and some comments are given on the location of MVZ, its shape and extent, cytoarchitecture and chemicoarchitecture, afferent and efferent fiber connections and their functions, and its important physiological functions.
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